Basic Skills and Lost-Proofing

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A MATTER OF PRIORITIES

If you find yourself lost or for some other reason stranded in the woods, the first thing to remember is to stay calm. Fear can be deadly—literally—if you let it take control of your thoughts and actions. This, in fact, is another reason why learning survival skills is so important. If you know before you go into the wilderness that you'll be able to cope with any situation that might arise, you won't be as likely to panic if you are faced with some kind of difficulty.

Keep a cool head. Think your problem through. Remind yourself that nature can provide everything you need for as long as you need it.

Remember, too, to focus your energies on filling those needs one at a time, in order of priority: In most cases, you should concentrate on providing shelter first, then water, then fire, and finally food. The first two items are the most critical. You can live for well over 30 days without eating, but for only a few days without water. Fire can be an outright luxury, but an adequate shelter—one that gives you complete protection from the elements—is absolutely essential. If you're caught without shelter in inclement weather, you can die overnight.

Building a Home: Although there are many kinds of emergency shelters, I believe the leaf (or debris) but is the best choice; not only is it long-lasting and well insulated, but it's also easy to construct.

First, find a well-drained site for your shelter—one that's not near any bodies of water (which often attract insects and encourage heavy dews) and that's protected by such natural windbreaks as dense woods, rock outcroppings, boulders, or sloping land. Check, too, to make sure there are no dead limbs or other objects above your campsite that could fall on you or your shelter.

Now, find a long, strong pole to serve as the ridge of the shelter and prop one end up on a stump, rock, forked tree, or other support that's at least two feet off the ground. Then lay smaller sticks at 45° angles against the sides of the pole, to form a wedge-shaped "rib cage." (Be sure to leave an opening on the east side of your hut for a door.) Then pile debris—leaves, grasses, ferns, pine boughs, sage, or any other light, fluffy vegetation—on top of the smaller branches to a thickness of at least two feet. And finally, lay more branches over the top of the roof to keep the natural insulation in place.

With that done, stuff the inside of your hut with the driest, softest material you can find—and when it comes time to get into the shelter, burrow into the filling just as you would a sleeping bag. (If your hut's large enough, you may want to reserve a separate nonsleeping area for your waking hours . . . carpet the floor in that area with a relatively thin layer of leaves.)

Finding Water: Usually, water is easy to locate in the wild. But since pollutants—both chemical and biological—can often be found in even the most remote waterways, it's best to be choosy about your source of supply.

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